Funding influx to help build extra local Habitat house

Friday

Jul 15, 2016 at 10:28 AMJul 15, 2016 at 10:28 AM

A $10 million windfall will help to build a new Habitat for Humanity home in communities across the state, including one in Gaston County.

The money will most noticeably benefit rural counties in North Carolina where Habitat projects are less common. But Mary Harris, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Gaston County, said the local chapter will also benefit from the sweeping initiative.

"This will definitely trickle down to us," she said. "We really appreciate them reaching out to help do this."

Other than Florida and Texas, North Carolina produces the most Habitat houses of any state in the nation. Those efforts were given another boost last year when the State Employees Credit Union Foundation pledged up to $10 million in grants and financing as part of the "SECU Habitat Mountain to the Sea Challenge."

That venture will involve a goal of building a home in each of North Carolina's 100 counties. It will be more meaningful for the 25 counties that lie outside a Habitat service area, but will be brought into the fold. In fact, homes have already been built in Scotland, Yancey, Avery and Edgecombe counties, and the goal is to complete the entire 100-home challenge by February.

This month, the Oak Foundation announced it will provide an additional $450,000 grant. It will cover most of the administrative costs associated with the oversight of the $10 million partnership.

Normally, a Habitat affiliate offers a family a zero-­percent-­interest mortgage and waits 25 to 30 years to recover its asset, Harris said. But the Mountain to the Sea program will allow the affiliate will recover the full mortgage value at closing, up to $150,000, so it can then put the money to work building another house for a family on a waiting list.

Habitat of Gaston County is now building its 109th home at 702 Pryor St., in Gastonia. The money that flows in from the Mountain to the Sea Challenge will likely be used to construct a home next year, Harris said.

"You've got to make sure you pick the right build," she said. "But this will help us to build another home."

Since 1983, Habitat has produced 7,600 new homes in North Carolina. It has rehabbed another 500 and provided critically needed repairs on another 1,825. All told, Habitat has served more than 9,900 families across the state.

But the need is still great. Habitat for Humanity estimates 300,000 North Carolina families spend more than half of their gross income on housing, and housing costs have continued to rise while wages have not kept pace. Some 10,518 homes go without heat in winter, and 16,548 lack indoor plumbing.

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